


You're a Magnet to Me

by ghostfox11



Series: Magnet [3]
Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: #Oral Sex, #Scars, #Smut, #Tattoo mention, #Tension is finally resolved, #angst, #romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:29:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostfox11/pseuds/ghostfox11
Summary: Tim nodded. Then he went back to shuffling his feet. He looked terrified and Lucy felt her heart begin to race alongside his. She too feared where this conversation was leading. It felt like they were standing on the edge of a cliff, looking out into the abyss, and she was unsure if she should jump and whether he would follow if she did.Lucy's world comes crashing down when she finds out that Tim is leaving via a text from Jackson. Tim fights for her forgiveness.*Reading the previous stories in this series is not a requirement in order to understand this one.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Series: Magnet [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695028
Comments: 22
Kudos: 146





	You're a Magnet to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Reading the previous stories in this series is not a requirement for this one. All you need to know is that Rachel is not on the scene, Lucy is no longer a Rookie and she and Tim have grown much closer.

_Tim’s leaving?_

With just two words, a text from Jackson sent Lucy’s world crashing down around her. 

_What do you mean?_

_Turns out he got the Sergeant’s job in Malibu. Lopez is organizing surprise drinks after shift. I was to invite you and Nolan. Thought you would have known?_

Rage flooded through Lucy’s system, overcoming her small frame to the point that she felt as though she was vibrating with it.

_I didn’t. Thanks for telling me._

Lucy stood pressing her palms against the lockers before her, trying to calm herself down, trying to make some semblance from the mess her world had just become. Why would Tim leave? He always seemed happy, well as happy as he let himself be when on the job. He hadn’t even mentioned chasing a promotion again since he had said he wasn’t done training her yet. Sure, he was done now, but he had been for months. There wasn’t any reason she could find for the sudden decision.

Then again, what if it wasn’t sudden? What if this was just the first opportunity he had been given since his refusal? What if he had been trying to leave this entire time?

And why hadn't he told her first?

Slamming her locker shut, and still in a daze, Lucy made her way out into the precinct. She stormed into the busy roll call room and strolled right past Tim, feeling his eyes follow her.

“I’m sorry, I thought you knew,” Jackson apologized again as she sat beside him.

Lucy shook her head and murmured, “It’s fine.”

Surprisingly Grey didn’t mention Tim leaving during his morning speech. She supposed he must be respecting Tim’s wishes or else he was helping make the surprise at the end of shift better. But the room still felt off, and she wasn’t sure if it was just her or because everyone else was also tense. Thankfully, they weren’t given any special assignments, for she wasn’t paying much attention.

Until Grey told her she was partnered with Tim instead of Jackson.

Her heart stopped. She didn’t dare turn to look at him and instead raised her eyebrows at Grey in question but he didn’t offer any explanation other than “shaking things up."

She spent the duration of her walk to the shop deciding whether or not Tim had asked to be partnered with her. Maybe he was going to tell her his decision in private and had been saving the conversation until now. Positions could come in fast and decisions required suddenly. What if he had only made his choice yesterday and this was his first opportunity to tell her about it? Then again, he already told Lopez.

After weighing the pros and cons of giving him a piece of her mind as soon as they got in the shop, Lucy decided on a better plan of action. She would pretend not to know what was going on for the duration of the shift. She would act like everything was normal and see if Tim would tell her on his own.

* * *

Tim felt guilty for the entirety of their shift. He could sense Lucy vibrating with fury in the seat next to him, but he didn’t bite. Lopez never could keep a secret so he assumed she must have told Jackson, who had now told Lucy. Shit. That was why he waited until the night before his last shift to tell Lopez. At least Grey respected his no fuss request for roll call but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a plan for after shift. In fact, it basically confirmed it. Therefore, knowing Lopez, her offer for drinks wasn’t going to be as innocent as it had sounded. He groaned again and fought the urge to slam the steering wheel. 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to tell Lucy he was leaving. He had. He’d wanted to tell her as soon as he got the offer. But then they got called to a suspected kidnapping and, when they had found a drunk girl in the boot of a man’s car, and he had watched Lucy try not to fall apart for the remainder of the shift, he had decided that it wasn’t the time.

That night, she’d asked him if they could go for a run again. When she had spent more time fussing over Kojo than she had running, he’d asked if she wanted to come back to his for a bit. To play with Kojo that was. She had surprised him by accepting with the brightest smile he had seen all day. Lucy had fallen asleep on his sofa, her head on his shoulder with Kojo lying across both of their laps. It was as he listened to her soft breaths that he’d decided he couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t tell her that he was leaving until he told her something much, much bigger.

But the right time never came. So, he’d asked Grey if he could be partnered with his last Boot on his last shift. It was a weak excuse and he’d sensed from how easily Grey agreed that he suspected there was something more going on. Thankfully his superior hadn’t made a deal out of it.

Tim’s plan had been to tell Lucy as soon as they’d sat in the shop. Then he had felt her anger, at which point, he had fully expected her to bring it up herself. When she hadn’t, he’d thought that maybe she didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe she was too angry and hurt at him leaving, that she didn’t want to talk to him at all. Maybe he had ruined everything before they had even had a chance.

With so many uncertainties, his doubt crippled him so that he never found the words.

* * *

After what felt like one of the longest shifts of her career, Lucy found herself once more shaking with rage in the locker room. Tim still hadn’t mentioned leaving.

Her patience ran out.

She stormed out and found him just leaving the men’s locker room.

“What the hell Tim!” she admonished and was proud when he flinched slightly. “I give you all shift to grow some balls and tell me you’re leaving, and you say nothing! What did you think? That you could just act like everything was normal and come tomorrow you’d be in Malibu whilst I was left wondering where the fuck you were! I thought I meant more to you than that.”

Her voice quietened at the end, the pain shining through, she made no attempt to hide it, and instead let it show on her face as well. Then she turned and stormed away leaving him staring after her with a look of shock, confusion and anger and if she was not mistaken a hint of hurt.

Good.

As Lucy stormed to her car, she sent Jackson a text saying she wasn’t up for drinks after shift. He replied asking if she wanted him to return home, but she declined. She wanted to be alone and wallow in her pity.

And so, she did. For two hours she lay on the couch eating pizza and drinking wine. She had tried to find a film, but every hint of romance was making her heart ache worse.

If she ever needed confirmation on her feelings for Tim it had come in a bucket load that evening. Just the thought of not seeing him every day was enough to break her apart. She didn’t just have a crush on his looks, she didn’t feel like she was losing a colleague or even a friend. She was in love with him. And now she might never see him again. Except for conferences or the odd case crossover, both of which would be terribly painful given how she had left things. She kept imagining him at the bar, celebrating his promotion. Did he miss her? Had he looked for her when he arrived? Did he wish she as there?

She didn’t know, and that hurt all the more. Sure, they had grown closer recently, and she had started to believe that her feelings weren’t entirely one sided, but if he felt even a fraction of what she felt towards him, he never would have planned to leave without telling her.

A scream of frustration tore from Lucy’s throat as she slammed her now empty glass back onto the table. She was deciding if she wanted to open another bottle, or hit the hard stuff, when the doorbell sounded.

Groaning she rose to her feet. Jackson often forgot his keys and she fully expected it to be him.

However, when she opened the door it wasn’t Jackson who greeted her, but a large bouquet of flowers from behind which she could just about make out the profile of Tim.

“I’m sorry,” he said, offering her the flowers before she could speak. She took them automatically, still in shock that he was there at all.

“What do you want Tim?” she demanded, lowering the bouquet to her side. It was made up of her favorite flower: sunflowers. It couldn’t be a coincidence, but she couldn’t remember ever telling him that detail.

“You said once that you liked old school, so I thought you’d appreciate an old school offering of an apology. But, just in case, I also have this,” Tim brandished a bottle of expensive tequila and Lucy had to try to hide her smile at seeing it.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

Lucy didn’t speak and instead stood back to allow him through the door before closing it behind him. He placed the bottle on the kitchen counter and turned to face her, awkwardly pushing his hands into his pockets. He spotted the empty wine bottle on her coffee table and he felt his guilt sink in deeper. He hadn’t just messed up his chance to tell her, he’d also hurt her. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Before he could offer her another apology she spoke.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucy asked. She had considered letting him speak first but decided she’d done enough of that already. She knew she was being rude but quite frankly she didn’t care anymore.

“I wanted to,” Tim admitted, “I did.” He hastily added when she scoffed. “But seeing your reaction would have made it much harder to go.”

“You never know, you’ve been a pain in my ass since I started working with you, I might have celebrated.” Tim merely rose his eyebrows at her, and she sighed. “You’re right. I didn’t, I _don’t,_ want you to go. But I deserved to be told by you instead of a text from Jackson.”

Tim shook his head. “That was never supposed to happen. I didn’t want drinks or any of the fuss. I just wanted one last normal shift and I would have told you, but you didn’t give me the chance.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault now is it?” Lucy felt her anger rising again.

“That’s not what I said.”

“Sure sounded like it to me.”

“Look, I’ll have you know that back in the precinct I was still your superior and your attitude could have caused you a lot of problems.”

“Technically by that point you were Sergeant of Malibu not my superior officer so-“

“Lucy would you just listen to me for a second?” Their volume had been gradually rising as they threw accusations back and forth, but it was the desperation of his request that finally silenced Lucy. Tim took it as a sign that he could continue uninterrupted. “I’m sorry okay, I should have told you, regardless of my own feelings. That was stupid of me. But you have to understand that I had more to say.”

“I should have let you explain.” Lucy admitted.

Tim nodded. Then he went back to shuffling his feet. He looked terrified and Lucy felt her heart begin to race alongside his. She too feared where this conversation was leading. It felt like they were standing on the edge of a cliff, looking out into the abyss, and she was unsure if she should jump and whether he would follow if she did.

So, they stood, gazes locked and tension building until Tim swallowed and confessed, his voice hoarse, “I think I’m falling for you.” He had practiced his speech so many times over the last few days, and again on the car on his way here, that he didn’t even need to think about it. “I think I’m falling for you and I’m terrified. I took that job out of fear for what my feelings could mean for you and your career. I understand if you don’t feel the same but this way, we can make a go of it, or never see each other again. Either way your career won’t be damaged in the process.”

He looked her in the eye as he spoke, wearing his heart on his sleeve in a way she had rarely seen it. Fuck, but it broke her.

“You ass.”

Of all the things Tim had expected her to say, that had never been one of them.

Lucy watched as his face dropped. The few seconds it took for her to reach him she decided were punishment enough for his behavior.

When they passed, she rose up on her toes so she could reach his face. Seeing his hurt turn to surprise she grinned and cupped his face with her hand. And then she joined their lips in a kiss.

Tim felt her lips softly caress his, as though she was testing whether or not he wanted her to do so. After feeling so defeated not five seconds prior, he felt his entire body light up like a wire.

He responded to her kiss in earnest, wrapping his arms tight around her and pulling her closer. Their height difference made the angle awkward, but he immediately found a solution: bending down, he lifted her in the air, one arm securing her to him, whilst the other tangled in her hair. She fastened her legs tight around his back and groaned when he stumbled and turned to press her into the wall.

His hand found its way under her top, whilst she arched closer to him. His lips latched on her neck, the dark ink of her tattoo calling to him and she groaned at his assault. It only encouraged him.

“Tim,” she moaned, and it was his name on her lips, in a tone that he had only imagined, that made him freeze. He pulled back to look at her, now aware of the position they were in. His former rookie was pressed to the wall and her legs around his waist. They were strong and gripping and fuck did he want to bury his head between them but first:

“Lucy wait,” He spoke, his voice sounding rasped and heavy, almost needy. “I need you to be sure this is what you want because this is going to change everything.”

Lucy immediately nodded, a look of determination crossing her face. “Oh, I’m sure. Trust me Tim I’ve been wanting to do this since our first shift.”

“But I was an ass then?” Tim looked at her in confusion.

“Mhhmm well don’t tell my mother but asshole has always been my type.” Tim tightened his grip and lifted her back up from where she had gradually slipped down the wall during their talking.

“Oh that’s noted,” he pressed a kiss to her lips, pulled back and added, “Boot.”

She grinned at him, “hmm you still gonna use that?”

He moved to press kisses down her neck again. “Occasionally,” he murmured against her skin. Images of just when he could call her that, in the privacy of these walls, filled her head. And then he spun them to carry her towards the bedroom. She giggled at the move.

When they reached their destination, he lowered her to the bed. She watched, perched on the edge, as he tore his Henley off. Lucy smiled and licked her lips at the sight, causing him to smirk down at her and lean down for a kiss from where he stood before her. As soon as he was close enough, she reached up to trail her hands down and across his bare chest, relishing in the expanse of corded muscle. As her hands traveled downwards, she felt a patch of rough skin. She knew immediately what it was and broke their kiss to look down at it: his scar from the bullet that struck him on their first shift together. A closer inspection revealed another scar, this one a thin line from what she guessed was a knife. It stretched across his ribs. A third peeked out from his pants and seemed to run downwards.

She looked up at him, seeing the rawness of his gaze. Without breaking eye contact, her lips found the bullet mark. Slowly she traced over it, the mark of the day they met, the day she saved his life. Then she reached over to give the first knife scar the same treatment. She felt his hand cup the back of her head as she did so, and she took it as encouragement. She pulled at his pants and unbuttoned them, lowering them to the ground where he kicked them away. Tim watched in nothing short of awe as she traced the line from his hips down his right leg, pushing his boxers out the way as she went.

He stood naked before her, fighting a moan as her lips moved back upwards, tracing the line, and then she stopped. They made eye contact once more and he could see what she was thinking. He considered telling her she didn’t have to, but the hunger in her eyes left him speechless. Instead, he fed one hand gently through her loose waves and placed the other on her shoulder to steady himself. Her hand grasped his member. Her lips wrapped around him. He groaned at the heat and let her work him, her hand and mouth working in tandem. He cursed when she swirled her tongue around his tip. “Lucy,” he warned when he felt himself beginning to lose control and he pushed her back on the bed.

He didn’t give her any time to recover from the sudden shift before he was on top of her. “My turn,” he stated and pulled at her pants to remove them.

Lucy felt her heart begin to race and fought to calm herself. Despite her brief relationship with Emmet, they had only ever had sex when she had been the one in control and she had never let him go down on her. It felt too intimate and consequently unsafe. But she had fantasized about doing this with Tim for so long and she refused to let Caleb ruin this for her.

“You okay?” Tim asked. He had somehow removed her underwear without her noticing. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious as he looked up at her from where he knelt on the floor, with her naked lower body spread out before him.

She forced her lips into a smile. Tim could tell that she was trying to make it look convincing, but he didn’t buy it for a second.

“Talk to me,” he said, crawling up so that he was fully on top of her. It was then, as he towered above her, that he realized his mistake and he moved to the side to give her space. “I’m sorry Lucy,” he said removing all contact from her body. “If it’s too soon, we don’t have to do this.”

“No,” Lucy interrupted him, lifting her hand to cup his face. “I want to do this. I just, I haven’t let anyone… since-”

“Then I won’t do it,” Tim whispered, slowly leaning down to kiss her but giving her plenty of time to back away if she wanted to.

It made Lucy want to scream that she had caused Tim to be so hesitant with her. She didn’t want him to worry about what he could or couldn’t do, especially in the bedroom. Her fantasies involving him had for the most part involved him being in control, dealing with her being in trouble in very, very different ways than pranks and pictures.

“I want you to go down on me Tim,” She whispered, and she felt her lust return when his gaze darkened into something that was almost predatory. She wondered if that should scare her, for it didn’t. “I just… let me see you?”

Tim’s face impossibly darkened further, and he nodded. He had felt terrible when he’d sensed her tensing up as he had prepared to show her just how much he wanted her. From her relationship with Emmet he had thought that she had overcome any fear in this department but now he felt like an asshole for assuming that she had.

“Tim,” she whispered, “please.”

He nodded at her and decided that now, more than ever, he was determined to pleasure her beyond any fear, or doubt for his love for her. He would make sure she felt safe with him.

He traced kisses slowly down her legs and when he got to her center he froze and looked up. From his position lying flat on the bed, Lucy could see him clearer and he didn’t feel as overpowering. “If you want me to stop just say,” he promised. But, within five seconds of feeling his mouth on her, Lucy knew with certainly that that wouldn’t be happening.

With his mouth on her clit and two fingers teasing her opening he brought her to the edge quicker than any other man ever had. “Tim,” she moaned again, her hand reaching for his head to pull him closer, he moaned at her actions and that was all it took to send her flying.

Tim smiled as Lucy collapsed onto the bed. He let her catch her breath, as he kissed her thighs, pulling her top up so he could trace his kisses higher.

After a few seconds, Lucy felt composed enough to notice that his soft kisses had stopped. Confused, she opened her eyes to look down and saw a look she couldn’t read on his face, as he hovered over her midriff. It took her a split second to realize what he was looking at.

Where the tattoo marking her almost date of death had once been, there was now a dark red feather.

“It’s a phoenix feather,” Lucy explained as Tim looked at her with what she now recognized as wonder. “It’s a symbol of rebirth. After all, it marks the first day of the rest of my life.”

She knew the meaning hadn’t gone unnoticed to Tim as his mouth opened slightly in surprise. He stared at her for a few seconds and then he lowered himself down so that his lips could trace the new ink on her skin, and she felt her back arch from the bed. He pulled at her top and she helped him remove it, but he was only off her for a second before his lips met her skin again. She felt tears spring to her eyes at how he worshiped the new mark.

She had been tempted to tell him about her choice before now, but she was really glad she hadn’t.

Tim continued to press kisses into her skin to try to calm himself down. Flashes of emotions struck him as he remembered one of the worst days of his life. The fear of losing her when Grey reported her missing. The devastation when he couldn’t find a pulse. The guilt when her top had risen, and he saw the tattoo for the first time as he carried her to the ambulance. And now, as he kissed the symbol he had inspired her to create, he realized he had never felt more strongly for a woman.

He breathed deeply to gather himself. If he didn’t calm down, he was going to show her exactly how strongly he felt, and he didn’t want to scare her.

Instead he let his kisses slowly make their way up to her exposed chest and took her left nipple in his mouth. She squirmed beneath him at the assault and he used his right hand to give the other one some attention too.

“Tim,” she moaned, “I need you.”

He groaned and pulled away so that he could look down at her. “Do you want to be on top?” he asked.

She could have wept at the care in his eyes. The voice at the back of her head whispered that it would be easier if she were, that she would be in more control that way. But she wanted Tim to know that she trusted him, and it felt important that she let herself feel the more pleasant way of giving all her trust and control over to someone.

“No,” she whispered. “I trust you.”

Tim grinned and then froze, “I don’t have a condom,” he confessed.

“Top drawer,” Lucy instructed. He reached over and pulled one out, making short work of covering himself.

He then took one of Lucy’s hands in his and lifted it above their heads before he lined himself up. He gave her one more second to pull away, and when she didn’t, he slowly pushed inside.

She gasped at the pressure and was thankful that he gave her a few seconds to adjust before he began to move. Their pace was slow and sensual, and Lucy couldn’t help but grip onto him tightly. 

Tim groaned as he felt himself reaching his climax. With Lucy’s legs shaking as they gripped him, he knew she was close too, so he reached down between them to help her reach the edge. They fell over it at the same time gasping each other names. As he collapsed, he made sure to balance his weight so that he wasn’t crushing her.

With heavy breaths they lay side by side, content smiles on their faces as they looked at each other.

When Sergeant Grey had told Tim that he was getting “the hot shot”, he had no idea that she would be more than just hot at the job but also so impossibly beautiful. Over the years he had seen her look at him in anger and hurt, in confusion and in happiness, but the look she was giving him now was new. A smile lit up her face, her eyes shining. It was a look that could only be described as unguarded love. Seeing it, Tim decided that everything, all the training, the long nights, the tough calls and, most importantly, putting off their feelings until the time was right, had been worth it. He could live in this moment, looking at that smile, for the rest of his life.

Lucy looked across at the man that had caused her so much anger and frustration, all in the act of making her the best cop she could be, and she knew she wouldn’t have changed it for the world. She had seen the depths of his heart. Now that it was open for her, she wasn’t going to jeopardize it. Regardless of the struggles they would face, for she knew there would be many, she couldn’t bring herself to be worried, because they would face it together. They had always made a good team. She already trusted him with her life and, now that she was trusting him with her heart too, she had never felt safer.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this story and a thank you to everyone who has followed the series. I hope the pay off was worth it! Let me know! Any feedback at all would be appreciated.


End file.
